From parody to production: How @petermolydeux inspired a wacky weekend game design marathon

This weekend, hundreds of game developers from around the world will have 48 …

There's a common saying: every joke has an element of truth to it. If so, there's a lot of truth buried in the hundreds of wildly imaginative, highly silly game ideas that have come out of @PeterMolydeux—the loving Twitter parody account that takes Black & White and Fable designer Peter Molyneux's penchant for ambitious, industry-changing game concepts to ridiculous extremes.

Hundreds of game designers will try to bring that truth to the surface this weekend by taking part in the "What Would Molydeux?" Game Jam, a 48-hour group game design and programming marathon based on the idea of bringing the Twitter account's often-ridiculous ideas to life.

In dozens of worldwide locations, game makers will draw inspiration from concepts ranging from turn-based fighting games (where you "have to level up individual bones and set which order the joints are moved and rotated to create attacks"), to ultra-realistic co-op military shooters ("if your partner dies you have to spend 30minutes [sic] digging a hole to bury them before you can continue."), to thoughtful takes on anthropromorphism ("Is it possible to make a green square feel alive?").

From idea to execution

The whole Moyldeux game jam idea grew organically out of an idle tweet from Double Fine Senior Gameplay Programmer Anna Kipnis. She had become somewhat enamored with the mad genius of the Twitter account weeks before. "After a while, the tweets started to seem like actually great game ideas to me," Kipnis said. "I would read his tweets and then end up thinking about what the game would be like for the next 10 minutes."

In a March 13 message to her followers, Kipnis asked whether anyone had already done a game jam devoted to these surprisingly poignant ideas, suggesting "it needs to happen." Many on the Internet obviously felt the same way—within hours of her tweet, many had volunteered to help make the idea a reality. Seventy developers had expressed interest in participating through a bare bones Google Docs sign-up sheet. Molydeux himself gave his "blessing and support" to the idea in a reply (and later gave suggestions as to the tweets he thought would make the best games)

"When Anna pushed me on it, I think we all had the same 'Why the hell not?' moment," said Giant Bomb News Editor Patrick Klepek, who was one of the first to enthusiastically offer to help make the game jam actually happen. "This whole thing is a riff on Molyneux, a designer we both respect and raise an eyebrow towards. His ideas are grand, ridiculous, and high concept. That a parody account of his ideas could take off this way is a testament to how much people enjoy that stuff, even if it is with a wink, a nod, and an eye roll."

"Once it was suggested, it seemed evident that it clearly needed to happen," agreed industry veteran and game jam organizer Chris Remo (who's worked as a game journalist and as a producer at Irrational Games, among other roles). "I think the reason Molydeux is so resonant is because on its face it is simply hilarious, but the actual underpinnings are that we really should be thinking of games that aren't solely about shooting monsters in the face for 12 hours straight, and I think people respond to that."

"I have spent so much editorial time talking about emotions in games, and how we should make attempts to be more artistic, that this seemed like a great opportunity to make light not only of emotion in games, but my own ideas," said former Game Developer magazine editor-in-chief and Necrosoft Games founder Brandon Sheffield, who also stepped up to help organize the event. "But at the same time, who knows, we could actually really make something emotive there. So it could be hilarious or actually really nice. Or both!"

The real Peter Molyneux, for his part, seems to be taking his indirect, inspirational role with all of this in stride. Just before the game jam was first proposed, he actually tweeted in support of a Molydeux idea about a free-to-play mobile game where "if you pay a little then the NPCs will be extra nice and complement you more while playing." More recently Molyneux tweeted that he's "signed up and excited" for one of the UK editions of the game jam.

Life imitating art imitating life

Twitter

Goals and expectations

Forcing developers to go from idea to working game in a rushed, 48-hour marathon might not seem like the best way to create quality conversions. But the organizers insist there are benefits to such a constraint. "It's the equivalent of a writing or shipping deadline, and you have social pressures all around you," Klepek said. Remo added the tight deadlines would force participants to stop the endless revisions that can come when you think your work isn't good enough. "A game jam forces everyone to just share their ideas, even in a rough state, where the expectations are clear and everyone knows they won't be held to a stringent standard."

The organizers were reluctant to predict just what kinds of treatments they were expecting to come out of the weekend, but they said results will likely run the gamut from silly to profound. "A lot of the ideas have you laughing, and then they sit for a bit, and you get a Keanu-esque 'Whoa' moment," Klepek said. "Many of them are jokes, and many make you seriously consider their potential, and many achieve both," Remo agreed.

Kipnis drew a connection between the Molydeux event and the two-week game jams that Double Fine employees take part in every so often. Those have led to published games like Stacking and Costume Quest. "It's incredible the ideas that come out of it," Kipnis said. "It's a difficult two weeks, but super inspiring in the end."

Regardless of the state of the actual resulting games, though, the Molydeux game jam organizers all said they hoped the event would provide participants an excuse to stretch their creative muscles with like-minded people. They want creators to avoid the worry and judgement that can come with more formalized game development.

"Frankly, this whole thing is almost a Molyneux-style idea," Sheffield said. "People coming together to work on something communally, sharing ideas and emotions in one space to create something for others to enjoy."

Kyle Orland
Kyle is the Senior Gaming Editor at Ars Technica, specializing in video game hardware and software. He has journalism and computer science degrees from University of Maryland. He is based in the Washington, DC area. Emailkyle.orland@arstechnica.com//Twitter@KyleOrl